Cable ties are commonly used to bundle or secure a group of objects, such as electrical wires and cables. Cable ties of conventional construction include a head and an elongated tail extending from the head. The tail is wrapped around one or more objects and inserted through a passage in the head. The head of the cable tie typically supports a locking element, which extends into the head passage and engages the body of the tail to secure the tail to the head.
In practice, installation of the cable tie includes manually placing (e.g., looping) the tie around the objects to be bundled, inserting the tail through the head passage, and then manually tightening the tie about the bundle. A cable tie installation tool, such as a cable tie tensioning and severing tool, may be used to tension the cable tie to a predetermined tension. Once the tension approaches the desired tension, the tool severs the excess tail portion from the cable tie (e.g., the portion of the tail that extends beyond the head of the cable tie).
The tail is typically severed substantially flush with the head due to the head being positioned in close proximity to the severing mechanism of the cable tie installation tool upon the cable tie being fully tensioned. As a result, the cable tie is generally incapable of being tightened further after the tail has been severed and thus the cable tie is generally viewed as a single-use fastening device.
Accordingly, those skilled in the art continue with research and development efforts in the field of cable tie installation.